Wish Child Namiah

Date: June 2015 – March 2016

Location: Chicago

Michelle and I had taken on another “Wish Child” and this one was a 2 and half year old girl named Namiah.  We had scheduled a visit back in May 2015, but Namiah had contracted an infection and thus was hospitalized.  She had listed “Red Velvet Cupcakes” as her favorite dessert and I had gotten some from ‘Magnolia Bakery’ the day of our visit.  Since we did not get to go, I took them home and they were absolutely terrible.  It’s a good thing we didn’t present this to her.  When the visit was scheduled for June, I solicited recommendations in the “Loop” and went over to ‘Sugar Bliss’ to get “mini red velvet cupcakes”, hoping they would be better.

I met Michelle in the “Gold Coast” neighborhood at 5 pm and we then began a long car ride to the family’s place.  It took us over an hour owing to traffic and that gave Michelle an opportunity to show me some of the presents that she had got, “Disney Princesses” like “Elsa” and “Rapunzel” – Namiah’s favorites - and “Disney Princess Shoes” in Pink and Purple - her favorite colors.  We arrived to see that Namiah’s mom and dad were at home with the grandfather. Baby Namiah was absolutely adorable.  She loved her “Elsa” doll and was hugging her throughout; and  Michelle and I fell in love with her. She was a peach and when we opened the cupcake box, she reached inside and licked the cream off her fingers.  I guess that we had passed.

 The next task was trying to get a perspective of what the wish was.  It came down to ‘Disneyworld’ and we told them about the special benefits of going through MAW and staying at “Give Kids The World” etc.  We asked for alternate locations but this was pretty much their only wish.  They had talked about “Disney Cruise”, but did not want to be on an isolated ship for such an extended period.  They also wanted some water based activity since Namiah loves water. We also said that we could also arrange a visit with “Elsa” – as long as it’s a real person in a dress and not someone in a stuffed costume, which scares her.

The "Elsa" cake

We asked about her other likes and besides “Disney”, it is some Pigs based show where the Pigs speak in a “British” accent.  It seems like she watches them with glee.  In terms of timing, they said they would prefer to go after September, when she was in “Maintenance” - a term associated with her medical treatment.  Then we filled out the paperwork and it was time to go.  Her grandfather was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station and on the way he talked about her diagnosis and the toll on Namiah’s mom and grandmother.  He is a paramedic and said that he was available to MAW if we ever needed anything. 

I went and dropped of paperwork with Amy at MAW, telling her about Namiah, and she said that they would make everything that Namiah wanted happen.  I lit a candle for her during my visit to the ‘Cathedral of St. John’s’ in New York City, during my visit in September.  Because of the family’s availability, months went by and in March 2016, Michelle and I visited Namiah with a cake made with a model of "Elsa" on top.  Michelle, as usual, had worked her magic and had managed to get it donated.  We picked up the cake at a bakery in “Ukrainian Village” and then took the long ride to Namiah’s place.  She was excited of course, but we couldn’t stay long since we were intruding on their Sunday and so left immediately after.  Just before Namiah left for ‘Disneyworld’ in April, Michelle went to drop off the “goody bag”.  I was supposed to go to their airport, but could not due to my own travel.  Based on the pictures that we saw, it looked like Namiah had a terrific time. We were glad to have helped, though this wish was all Michelle’s contribution.